Looks like we're not the only country struggling with excessive national and personal debt. In fact, according to the article, Americans' personal debt now " is $13.8 trillion, including mortgage debt, slightly less than the country’s $14 trillion G.D.P." Remember that our National Debt is $9 Trillion, which means our debt is over 64% of our G.D.P. Not that long ago, the rule of thumb for approving people for mortgages was that the monthly payment would take no more than 25% of their monthly income.

At any rate, I found this article about British national and personal debt intriguing. Hope you do, too.

Here is the link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/business/worldbusiness/22debt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th